


Meeting as Children

by ke_xia



Category: Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 13:34:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4748306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ke_xia/pseuds/ke_xia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <span class="small">anonymous asked:<br/>I LOVE this blog and I love fluff, so, be careful because this prompt might send you into a diabetic coma: How about little girl Claire traveling through time for the first time, finding little Jamie playing and deciding to join in? I honestly believe these two would form a wonderful bond no matter at what time of their lives they meet <3333</span>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a collection of prompts sent in to [Imagine Claire & Jamie](http://imagineclaireandjamie.tumblr.com/tagged/meeting-as-children-au) on tumblr, written by Mod Eli. (That's me!) I'm posting them here for easier reading and in case there's anyone over here on AO3 who might not be on tumblr. Do feel free to check the blog out, though, and send in prompts if you have more ideas for our favorite pair!

She was lost. And utterly confused. One minute, Uncle Lamb had been poking around, trying to nudge one of the rocks over, of all the mad things to do, and the next- well… Here she was, feeling ill and all alone. Claire had begun to head for Inverness, thinking she might meet her uncle back at the inn where they were staying, but a dirty man with horrible, rotting teeth had spotted her and begun to chase her down the road. So she’d slipped into the brush and hadn’t stopped running for some time after. 

It seemed different, Scotland. Claire couldn’t quite place her finger on the changes, but she felt… odd, displaced. And she didn’t understand why Uncle Lamb would have left her behind. What she needed was to find an adult who wasn’t terrifying with rotten teeth and trying to chase her down. And so she wandered, searching for someone who could help. 

The sun had settled low on the horizon when she found a small river to stop at for a drink. Claire squatted on the slippery rocks at the edge of the river and drank thirstily before splashing the cool water over her face and arms. It was getting chilly, and she was wishing she’d brought a jacket as Uncle Lamb had suggested. Serves you right, not paying attention when he tells you to do something! It certainly wouldn’t be the first time. Please don’t let me freeze to death, she prayed silently, tilting her gaze up to the sky.

“Lassies are no’ s’posed t’wear trousers!” a voice behind her called out disapprovingly. 

Claire let out a shriek of surprise and slipped, falling sideways and landing face-first right into the rush of water. She was up a second later, though, slipping still and sopping wet, with her wild hair sticking to flushed cheeks as she turned her glare on the little boy. He was hurrying down the bank, muttering excitedly in Gaelic, his own cheeks burning a bright red to match the fiery color of his hair.

“I’m verra sorry, miss! I didna mean t’startle ye!” he exclaimed, wading into the water in his boots to help her out.

“I’m fine,” Claire huffed, though he seemed steadier on his feet than she felt at the moment, so she squeezed his hand tightly as she followed him out of the water. Once on solid ground, though, she eyed him curiously. He seemed just a few years younger than her, but sort of… wild. And cute. But dirty. She had half a mind to shove him into the river and sit on him to wash some of the grime from his face. She tugged her hand out of his and glanced down at her blouse, scowling as she pulled it away from herself to wring the fabric out. Now it was bloody cold out.

“Sun’s goin’ down. I could build a fire to warm ye up. Still wonder what happened to yer clothes, though,” the boy mused. 

“There’s nothing wrong with my clothes, you right pain in the arse! Girls are allowed to wear bloody trousers, thank you very much! And before you go judging me, perhaps you ought to have a bath yourself! You smell like a pile of camel dung!” 

Slanted blue eyes grew wider and wider the longer she spoke, and the boy’s mouth hung open in surprise. “Why- if my Da heard ye speak so, he’d bend ye right ower his knee and belt ye good! T’isnt right fer a lassie t’speak like that.”

“Oh, so it isn’t right for a lassie to speak like that, but it’s perfectly fine for a-”

“Did ye say ye’d seen a camel?” he broke in suddenly.

Huffing, Claire straightened her slim shoulders, only to round them once more and cross her arms, shivering. “Well, yes. I have. Now, about that fire-” 

“Oh! Aye, right. I’ve caught a nice hare, too, I’ll share with ye for dinner. Maybe ye can tell me, then, what it is ye’re doin’ wanderin’ around out here all alone…”

He seemed rather a bit young to be skinning rabbits on his own but Claire couldn’t help admiring his skill with the blade he’d pulled from his belt. Jamie, as he’d introduced himself, had built a nice big fire, and she sat close to it, holding her sopping shirt out and watching the steam rise as she waited for her clothes to dry. The unlikely pair stayed up well into the night sharing stories, and only when the fire had burned down low did they curl up close together for warmth, one of Jamie’s scrawny little arms draped over Claire’s side. She couldn’t remember a night that she’d slept better, no matter that it was on the cold, hard earth.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous said:  
> I really really well like a second part of the fluff one, the one where Claire and Jamie are both children. Thank you for your work!

“Jamie?” A man’s voice called out from somewhere near the house below.

Claire looked on the view as they picked their way carefully down the hill. She was sure she was going to slip and fall, but Jamie’s feet were quick and sure, so she kept close, her fingers stretched out, ready to grab his hand at any moment in case she was about to fall. Her fingers brushed his arm and he looked over toward her with a toothy grin before grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze.

“Dinna fash. I willna let ye fall,” he assured her.

“Who’s yer friend, a bhalaich?” 

The little boy lifted his free hand in a wave as they strode forward. “This is Claire Beauchamp. She says she lost her uncle near Inverness, then got chased by a bad man! She’s all alone, Da. Can we help her?” His dark eyes were big and wide, pleading with his father to say yes.

As if Brian Fraser would have said anything different when a child was in need.

“Oh, puir child. Of course we’ll help ye find yer uncle, a nighean.” He was looking her up and down, clearly curious and quite confused, though. “Let us get ye inside. I fear it’s too late to head for Inverness tonight, but we’ll set out first thing, aye?”

“Brian, is that Jamie I heard? Tell him to find Jenny and come g- oh!” 

Claire’s gaze shot toward the doorway of the home when a beautiful woman with shocking read hair to match Jamie’s poked her head out. She stepped fully out onto the stoop, then, hands coming to rest on her hips. Jamie looked exactly like her. His mother then. Claire smiled and offered her a bit of a wave. 

“Why, what’s happened to yer clothes, lass? Ye canna be running about dressed like that!” she called out, motioning for Claire to come to her.

The little girl glanced toward her new friend, unsure. Why was everyone so worried about her clothes? And why were all the women here dressed in ridiculous dresses that fluffed out and made their backsides look enormous? Jamie squeezed her hand again and nodded toward his mother. 

“Go on, then. She’ll see to ye,” he assured her. 

“Aye, I will. And Jamie, ye find yer sister and the both of ye wash up for supper. Hurry up, now. It willna keep, and I’ll have my hands full wi’ this one.” 

Claire made her way up the stairs and was ushered quickly inside. “You’re- Mrs. Fraser?” she asked as she was shooed up the steps toward the second floor ahead of Jamie’s mother.

“Aye, I am. Ye’re a bit taller than Jenny, but her things will do until ye can get back to yer uncle and put on a proper dress. T’isna right for a lass to be wanderin’ about in trousers. Men get the wrong idea, ken. Now, ye’ll tell us all about yer misfortune while we eat, aye?”

The little girl sat through a bit of scrubbing of her face and hands, then suffered a brush through her unruly hair so that Ellen could pin it up atop her head. Then she was refitted into a most uncomfortable new set of clothing before being ushered on back down the stairs. 

“Och, much better. Ye look braw, a nighean,” Mr. Fraser said. 

Claire, increasingly more frustrated by everyone’s comments, stomped her foot and let out a soft screech. “Why does everyone bloody care about me wearing trousers?! And why are you all dressed like-” She paused and looked around the room. There wasn’t a single electric light to be found. The lighting was dim, flickering flames of candles the only source. “Have you no electricity here?”

“Electricity?” Jamie questioned, moving forward to touch a hand to Claire’s arm. 

“Yes, of course. Wh- what are you all looking at me like that for?”

Brian and Ellen looked at one another, frowned, then turned worried gazes on the girl. “D’ye ken where ye are, lass? D’ye ken the date?” 

Oh. So they thought her confused or deranged, did they? Claire scowled. “I’m in Scotland. And the date is June 18, 1928.” 

There were gasps all around; several people, including Jamie crossed themselves. And suddenly, Claire understood. It wasn’t June 18, 1928. Something had happened. 

“Oh, Toto. I d-don’t think I’m in K-Kansas anymore,” she whispered. And then she dropped to the floor with a soft wail.

The family looked at one another in confusion once more, but it was Jamie first who knelt next to her and wrapped his arms around her. Ellen came next, gathering them both into her arms and hugging them tight. 

“It’s all right, a nighean. We’ll help ye get home.”

Jamie’s little arms squeezed her tight. Claire hugged them both and buried her face in against Ellen’s shoulder, a shuddering sob moving through her entire body. 

“Ye can stay wi’ us, Claire,” Jamie whispered in her ear. Then he pressed a kiss to her cheek. “We can be yer family, if ye canna get back.” 

Her hand squeezed at his hip and she gave a little nod. She was frantic to get back home to Uncle Lamb, but if she couldn’t… Well. She’d almost forgotten what it was like to have a mother and a father. Maybe staying here wouldn’t be so bad, after all.


End file.
